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 Posted: Sat Jun 19, 2021 10:11 pm
He had done it! Kanja was really proud of how it had turned out. It was an invention, of sorts. He had read about things like this in one of the books at the library when he was just idly killing time when his friends were busy. Did it still count as an invention if someone else had invented it first? Bah, that didn't matter now. The point was, he had created this, and he couldn't wait to show someone. He wondered who was around. Maybe Fin or Saga would like to see it? Kanja held his invention close and started searching for someone to show it to.
Just his luck! Kanja peeked into the training rooms one by one, and saw Dash. It looked like he had been training. Was he done? "Dash!" Kanja called excitedly from the door.
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Posted: Sat Jun 19, 2021 10:25 pm
Another hour spent before breakfast and Dash was feeling great. When he had started training with Argent, Dash had felt the pain keenly. But the more he trained the better he felt later on. Now he was thinking about training in the afternoons, too. He thought it would be fine to do that outside, though, since it was just him.
Today he heard a voice at the door and was pleasantly surprised to see Kanja. "Kanja!" Then he saw some kind of apparatus in Kanja's arms and was keenly interested. He set his spear aside and approached, asking, "What's that?"
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Posted: Sat Jun 19, 2021 10:34 pm
"I think I've found a way to show you what the lake looks like!" Kanja held up a pair of goggles that he had lovingly crafted. They had a protective guard over the nose and a tight seal around the edges to keep water out, and a strange, long curved tube with a funny knob at the end. "I saw in a book that some people would do this thing where they wore goggles and breathed through a thing and went under water, so I made one!" He was clearly excited. "The problem is, I can't make the breathing tube too long or it becomes impossible to wear... So I can't take anyone to the bottom, yet. I need to work on it more. Do you want to try it out with me?" His eyes sparkled brightly and he had the most excited smile on his face.
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Posted: Sat Jun 19, 2021 10:43 pm
Dash took the goggles and held them carefully, turning it around to look at all the details. He listened curiously. Much of his learning and training had been focused on the lake and now people would be able to see through the water! He blinked and placed the goggles and nose piece against his face and looked around. This would keep the water from his eyes and nose. The tube would be used to breathe. It was very straightforward. "Yes! I want to try it out." He was so happy that Kanja wanted him to use it first. For not one second did he think about his fear of the deeper water. That would come later anyway.
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Posted: Sat Jun 19, 2021 10:54 pm
"Great!" Kanja beamed, grabbing Dash's hand. "Don't drop it!" He barely waited for Dash to respond before he began gently pulling his friend out of the training room. He wanted to go right now and show Dash even just a little deeper in the water. He knew they wouldn't get to see all of it, but even just a little... He wanted to share it with his friends.
By the time they made it out of the ship, Thee aquatic dragon was practically running with Dash to get to the lake, he was so excited.
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Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2021 2:39 am
"Uh?" The apparatus was still against his face when Kanja grabbed his hand and pulled. He managed to put it against his chest and hold it there safely. By that time they were running, and Dash was laughing the rest of the way.
He slowed down once they got to the water and he waded in. After all that training this morning he was going to enjoy swimming in the cool lake water. He was better at it too. He could float properly or tread water. He knew a stroke or two. He and the others had come a long way in a short time.
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Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2021 9:31 pm
They stopped at the lake, and Kanja couldn't stop smiling as he looked at his friend. "You wanna give it a try, right?" He was really excited. "You've been practicing... or I guess you call it training... Have you gotten good at swimming yet?" He wasn't going to leave Dash's side, in case he wasn't good at swimming, and in case there was something wrong with the items he'd crafted. "Do you need help putting it on?"
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Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2021 2:35 pm
"Yes I do!" Dash replied merrily. "Yes, I've been training to use a spear, and fighting. And I have been practicing swimming too!" Training in the morning, swimming in the afternoons. He wouldn't say he was good at either kind of training yet, but he would definitely be able to paddle. "I don't know..." He was fiddling with the apparatus and thought it would be easy enough to put on. Kanja helped him where it was needed though and it was on in no time. "I'm ready!"
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Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2021 9:30 pm
"Great!" Kanja helped Dash strap the mask to his face. "Ok, then you just put this in your mouth and lay down in the water like your floating!" He smiled. "Uh, that is, lay down face first. You want this above water so you can breath. But don't worry! I'll be right there with you!"
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Posted: Mon Jun 28, 2021 6:43 am
Face... face down? Why did that suddenly seem dangerous? A little terrifying. But if the tube was out of the water, he would be able to breathe without trouble. "Okay..." He was going to do this! He would be a great tester. He wanted Kanja's apparatus to work. He would help Kanja perfect this thing.
He put the mouthpiece into his mouth and got down on his knees. Then he put his face in the water, letting his whole body float. He was good at floating by now. Normally he would have his face under water. Now he could see what he had been missing. Since the water was so shallow, most of what he saw was the sandy clouding kicked up by his limbs. But then it cleared and he could see rocks and debris. There was a little ripple to the sand. The colors ... were different. His skin was different. This was interesting!
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Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2021 5:16 pm
Kanja waited as Dash got ready. "I'll be right here." Just in case something went wrong. He was sure there were no leaks in anything. He'd tested everything again and again. He wanted his friends to be safe as they enjoyed the lake.
As Dash finally let himself start to float, Kanja placed a hand on his arm reassuringly before he slipped under the water to swim beside him. There were little plants growing in the shallows. The starts of some of the long lake grass, and little shells and glittery rocks that you would miss looking down from the surface. Kanja moved so Dash could see his face, and grinned, giving him a thumbs up. Dash was doing great! It was a shame they couldn't talk like this though. Not yet at least. Kanja then grabbed hold of Dash's hands and started guiding him around in the water. He showed him where the lake bed suddenly dropped (Kanja never let anyone swim out that far yet) and pointed to indicate that was where he stayed most of the time. Then guided him along the edge of the drop to where fish tended to congregate, near the reeds. Fish of all sizes darted around them, first fleeing, but then came swimming back slowly as they decided the pair weren't a threat.
Then they started heading back up towards the shore once more, where Dash would be able to easily stand.
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Posted: Wed Jun 30, 2021 12:32 pm
He felt Kanja's hand on his arm and the terror floated away. It was still there, but hovering like a sulking thundercloud in the middle distance, but he no longer felt it coldly shaking his bones. In its place all these new treasures could be seen everywhere. The pebbles and shells, the interesting plantlife, even some fish who thought the people might be interesting too.
Kanja was a big help. His sunny excited face and guiding hands helped him with the test. This was about the test, of course. He could not forget that. But all of the other distractions were just so fascinating. The shape of the sand and the floor as it dropped. The levels of light and the absence of color, a new kind of twilight during the day.
When they made it back to shallow water Dash was still excited. He had almost forgotten the apparatus at times, which was good! "This device is great! It sticks to my skin and makes my eyes feel funny and it took a while to get used to the mouthpiece. But I can't believe how interesting your home is! It's beautiful!"
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Posted: Thu Jul 01, 2021 4:02 am
Kanja's face seemed to light up when Dash complimented him on the device. "I'll find a way to make it not make your eyes feel funny, but I'm glad that it fit and you could see clearly and breath." He was so happy that he almost missed Dash talking about how the lake looked. "Oh... Yeah! I really like living down there. There's so much to see. Some day, I'll make something great, and I'll be able to take you to see the darkest parts where I sleep too! And you'll get to see the glowing fish! There's so much I want to show everyone, so I'll hurry up and keep working on my designs. Maybe I'll find a better way to shape the mouth piece. But keeping the water out and still letting you breath is more important then it being 100% comfortable. I guess it will always feel a little unnatural. Man, why can't genomes just have gills, like me, right?" He laughed happily. He was so glad this was a success! "Hey, was swimming with that easier to breath then lifting your head out of the water?"
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Posted: Thu Jul 01, 2021 10:44 am
He believed Kanja would tidy up the design of the apparatus. He was a cheerfully meticulous person. "It does not hurt anywhere," he reassured Kanja, or so he hoped. "I agree that comfort is not the biggest priority. I think it's fine as it is now. It did make swimming much easier! I did not have to focus so much energy on trying to breathe. By the way, have you thought of a name for it?"
Kanja had promised to one day show him the darker parts of the lake and its bioluminescent animals. Dash was looking forward to that. Ah! He should start a drawing journal so he could catalogue plants and animals. He had not expected to need to do that so soon. Should he use paper, which could get wet, or maybe a tablet that would allow him to draw on it? Where would he find such a thing, if it existed? Who would he go to, to ask?
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Posted: Thu Jul 01, 2021 1:33 pm
"Well, I read about these in a book. I think it's a snorkel, but from what I could tell, I made the mouth piece better. But since I don't have anything better to call it, snorkel is fine." He was really glad it worked.
"I hope to expand on this idea. I read there are ways to bring tanks of air under water with you to swim, but there aren't and designs I can follow, so I'm going to have to figure that out. Just having a tube in the water would be heavy and impractical. I should also try and refine the communication devices we have, see if I can make them waterproof so we can talk while diving." That would be important too, in case something went wrong and they needed to communicate. "I guess I've got my work cut out for me."
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